Tomorrow
by Purpledaisygirl
Summary: A cute story about Donnie and April when worst comes to worst for the both of them. Bits of brotherly fluff near the end.


Her heart felt like it had been shattered across the hard floor into a million pieces. She looked at the fragments that laid there so… broken. It wouldn't have been a big deal to anyone else, but it was to her. It was a plate, yet it was so much more than that at the same time. Her pop-pop had given her that plate when she was little. It was painted with a peach on the center with a gorgeous stem, and had baby blue pattern on it, and a gold rim around the entire plate. Her grandfather always used to call April his, "Jersey Peach" until he died when she lived in New Jersey. Then she moved to New York with her dad to be closer to her aunt. It was the last thing he gave her before he died of cancer. It had been a long two years, but the cancer was too severe. She vowed to herself to never get rid of it and pass it down to her children, but it was ruined now. Destroyed by the carelessness of another and it was even worse when it was someone who you cared about like family.

"Sorry." The orange claded turtle told her in a whisper.

He stared down from where he had dropped it and looked at his brothers, who had seen the whole thing, while sitting in the living room watching SRMFF.

"This never would've happened if Mikey hadn't been in my room in the first place." April thought to herself.

Apparently, he saw the plate and decided he was going to use it for his leftover pizza! That still didn't give him the right to be touching her stuff, but it couldn't be undone.

Mikey could see how shocked and saddened she was and started to walk over to her, but she ran in the other direction with tears welling in her eyes. Donnie called out her name, but she ignored him. She just wasn't in the mood. She sprinted to the room they had made for her when she lived here, to mourn because of how her heart felt like it had been stabbed with a knife. April entered the room and slammed the door behind her, slid to the ground, and banged the back of her head against the door. Her shoulders were slumped and her arms practically hung off of her body.

April thought about the time her grandfather had taken her to Philadelphia, to see the Liberty Bell and when they went to the Franklin Institute together, for her class field trip. He had gotten out of surgery a little while ago, so she got to take the elevator with him instead of the endless flight of stairs. Those were the times she remembered. The times where she never thought there'd be a day he wouldn't be with her.

She heard a light tap on the door, got up, and tried to say, "Come in" like nothing had been wrong, but it came out just loud enough for him to hear. One of the brothers quietly opened the door and came in. She guessed it was Donatello, but she wasn't entirely sure yet. April had her back to whoever entered and quickly wiped the single tear away, that broke free from her eyelid, onto her pale and freckled cheek.

"April?" Came the voice of her tall friend.

"Yes." She replied softly.

"Are you okay?" Came the concerned voice of Donatello.

"I'm fine." She said lowly.

He could hear the struggle she had, trying to keep her voice like she hadn't been upset, but he knew. No matter what, he could always see straight through her. April was translucent to him. The small sniffles that came from April made him frown. He could tell she didn't want him to see her this way, but he couldn't just leave her alone either.

"April. Please tell me what's wrong." Donnie asked her.

She turned around to see Donnie's pleading eyes staring her down.

"Gosh! Why does he have to have those rich, mahogany, eyes?!" April questioned herself silently.

It tore her to bits not telling him, but everyone except her would think it was ridiculous. It was one of her most treasured possessions. It was valued so much in her heart and nothing could replace it. How would he realize the same pain she felt? They stood their in her room for what felt like forever. Eventually she couldn't hold it in any longer and told him everything, but only vaguely.

"It's just that... That plate was really special to me. You may not understand, but my grandfather gave that to me before he died of cancer. He called me his sweet, Jersey Peach and I loved that plate. You may think it's stupid and childish, but it's not to me." April said with the most somber face she could give.

Donnie listened, then shifted to a look of more concentration, like he was thinking about whether to do something or not. He faltered for a bit, then took her hand in his larger one.

"I want to show you something." He told April.

He bought April into his lab, or also his safe haven and lead her to his desk. He carefully pulled out one of the drawers and from the confinements she saw, she thought he was a hoarder!

"Sorry about all the stuff." He told her with a chuckle.

He crouched down and took a binder out of the bottom that was jam packed full of stuff. April couldn't even begin to comprehend how he managed to fit it all in there. He rummaged through the papers until he finally found the section he was looking for. "Ages 4-6" it read.

"These are pictures Mikey and I drew when we were kids." He told her.

April looked over each one, examining their artwork form so many years ago.

"Aww. They're so cute! I think I can tell whose drawings is whose." April told him.

Mikey's were all in crayon, mostly scribbles, but Donnie's were done in pencil. The details he added were quite peculiar for someone of that age, but that was Donnie. Always shining brightest when he put his mind and heart into something.

"These mays not seem that special to you, but they are to me. I've always kept these and looked at them from time to time. Donnie told her.

He looked down at them, remembering the times when the world seemed almost perfect, but it was just a mask over what he was missing. Now, it was better than he could've imagined. He had been to the surface and met someone who he couldn't believe he'd lived his whole life without. Whether she thought of him as a friend or something more, he wouldn't be the same anymore without her.

April continued to scan over the toddler masterpieces, until something caught her eye on his desk. She placed down the papers and picked up another piece on his desk, certainly more recent than the others. It was of her and him in a jigsaw puzzle holding hands, bit the piece where their hands collided was missing. It was perfectly proportioned. The detail was indescribable. Their faces were turned toward one another, smiling and looking at each other with a sparkle she had never had until the day she met him. April was in complete awe from the sight.

"Donnie! When did you draw this?" She asked. If not, curiosity would've consumed her to the core.

"A while ago." He looked down and blushed because she wasn't supposed to see that. No one was supposed to.

"Why have you never showed anyone this before?" April asked.

"It's just… private." He replied.

"Donnie, you have a real gift. Share it with the world! Post it on the Internet. Even on Pinterest my gosh!" She tried to convince him.

He gave her his famous gap toothed smile because no one had ever been this encouraging to him and the best part was, "she" believed in him of all people. It made his heart do backflips in his chest.

April looked at Donnie and then back at the drawing. She then realized she had never seen anything so wonderful in the tough city of New York and she wasn't talking about the drawing. The guys were probably the closest thing you could get to loyal friends around here. Especially Donnie and she loved him for it. All emotions and feelings had been hidden behind a wall she had built to keep anyone from stealing her heart, but Donnie had found his way through.

She suddenly became very sheepish and put down the drawing on his desk.

"I-I have to go do something real quick, so I'll see you in a bit. Okay?" April stuttered out somehow.

She couldn't believe she loved him. April skittered out of his lab extremely flustered and went home leaving Donnie bewildered.

"What was that?" He asked himself.

It had seemed like she had gone from amazement to embarrassed in a matter of seconds. He shrugged, pushed that thought away, put back the stuffed binder, and hid the drawing back in its proper place. Behind his desk.

"Wait. How did that get from out behind there anyway?" He asked himself because surely he would've had it hidden away from everyone else so they would NEVER find it.

Donnie's expression immediately changed from confused, to a bright tomato red, full of anger when one word burned in his mind... Brothers.

He stormed out of the room, ready to let off some steam on some very guilty suspects. Little did his brothers know they were about to get an earful of yelling from the quietest of them all.

The Next Night

It had been a whole day since Donnie had intensely screamed at his brothers, but that night that they had gone on patrol was completely different.

April had been sitting in the pit of their living room area on her laptop, waiting patiently for the only people who kept her sane, to return from a long and tiring night of patrol. She heard the usually light footsteps of her friends become like rolls of thunder coming down the sewers at a fast pace. There laid between the arms of Raph and Leo was Donnie with Mikey right behind him. He was badly cut with blood stains on his plastron all over. Purple bruises darker than his mask covered his legs and arms. She put down her computer and ran over to him as fast as she possibly could.

"Oh my God! What happened?" She screamed at Donnie's brothers.

"There were to many of them. It was an ambush. We didn't see the weapon... they had and then they fired at Mikey when Raph and I weren't looking, so Donnie took the hit. We retreated... and came back here as fast as we could." Leo panted out, trying to to explain and catch his breath at the same time.

The entire time he talked April's gaze had been on Donnie as he was laid down on the couch area. Every wince from the pain she saw him make, made her want to run over to him and tell him everything was going to be okay, but she probably would've bear hugged him and hurt him even more. His conditions weren't deadly or fatal, but it still made her worry. She watched as Donnie had fallen fast asleep from all the exhilaration and pain of the night.

She went to the freezer and was back in a flash with an ice pack to aid the only person who could make her smile in her darkest hours. Whenever she had fallen, he was always there to pick her back up and now it was her turn to return the favor. Yet it would never amount to everything he had done for her.

"I'll take care of him, you guys go and get some rest." She told them, but she meant it more as an order.

"Are you sure April because I could- I'm positive." Leo began to say until he was cut off by April.

"Alright then." Leo said back.

He walked to his room and shut his door behind him turning off all the lights that had been on.

Mikey walked up to Donnie and said, "Get better bro. You'll have a better day tomorrow. I'll cut back on the pranks and try to reorganize your desk because I kind of... messed it up. I'll make you a big breakfast to make it up to you, I promise. Alright well, goodnight."

He left with a depressed look because he felt that it was his fault all this happened, but nothing could be changed. Donnie didn't want to see his little brother get hurt. He made the decision to take the pain and suffering.

"Why do I have to cause so much trouble?" Mikey thought to himself, as he left to his cluttered bedroom.

Last was the least sensitive of them all. Raph. He walked up to Donnie and just stayed there for a moment.

"Just wanted to say you did good. You did what needed to be done and saved Mikey's shell. You took it like a man. You sure are tougher than you look."

He patted him gently, turned to April and said, "Don't tell him I said this. I've got a reputation to keep."

"My lips are sealed." April replied.

He left with a smile and walked away into the darkened place he called his room.

April sat down and put his head under a pillow in her lap. She cautiously put the ice pack on the bruises, trying not to make to much contact, that it woke him up. She took a deep breath, got up, and retrieved the supplies to clean him up. The blood stains were no longer there and the cuts now seemed minor compared to what they were once she cleansed him. She propped his head back up over her legs again and began to talk to him in his sleep.

"I won't leave you here alone. I know you can't hear me, but I know you'd appreciate me doing this, but really it's nothing. We all need help sometimes you know. You've been there with me all this time and I didn't even realize how good I had it, but I need you to wake up and be okay because I miss your wonderful smile already. I wouldn't be able to enjoy life without you, but for now I'm just glad your safe. You may say that you need to protect me, but for tonight it'll be the other way around. I'll fight away all your fears because... I love you. Just like your drawing of us, you're my missing puzzle piece and I'm incomplete without you."

The words flowed from heart like a raging river. She meant every word of it, and would never take it back. She had always been one to cope with things, but this was different. It was love and it had made all the difference in her life. She stroked his cheek and leaned over and placed a kiss on his forehead.

"Goodnight Donnie. I love you." She said.

She leaned back and began to drift away into a deep sleep, but below her was the largest grin you could ever see.

Right before she fell asleep and was still conscious, a voice that was ever so distinct said, "I love you too April. I always have."

He knew now that the world really couldn't get better than this. He loved her and she loved him back. What else more did he have to ask for? April suddenly looked down utterly surprised and her lips curved into a beaming smile, as she drifted off to sleep with a wonderful morning ahead of her tomorrow.


End file.
